Unbroken
by Rayv
Summary: **Update**The strory of an average day (and maybe a couple more) in the life of Ray and her soulmate, the incorrigible Bradley Redfern. FEEDBACK!!!!
1. Default Chapter

Unbroken—(by rayv)  
  
Ray stood glaring at Bradley and his "date", undaunted by his threat.  
  
"Get the hell out of my room!" he repeated, menace apparent in his usually amused expression. It was obvious that he was trying to scare her away, but it wasn't working, not tonight. He was quite an unsettling sight, but it was nothing that Ray hadn't seen before.  
  
His extraordinary green eyes shone with anger, his mouth twisted in a snarl revealing his sharp, bloodstained fangs. His usually ordered silver hair was a mess, tousled all over his head, much resembling, to Ray's amusement, a silver pom-pom. Ray stifled a giggle.  
  
She found it amazing that Bradley could look so savage and alien, and yet at the same time be completely stunning. She had known the vampire for years and his looks still managed to astound her.  
  
"Well, I would………….but here's the thing: It's 3:00 in the morning, and I, being the lowly human that I am, actually need to get some SLEEP!" She paused for a second to throw in an extra dirty look at her companion.  
  
"You and your "friend" here have been making enough noise to raise the dead. Now I know that you're a sick bastard with no regard for human life, and any other night I could ignore that, but it's THREE O'CLOCK!! I came up here to make sure that you weren't doing anything too……….violent to the poor girl."  
  
"Out of sight, out of mind, huh?" Ray could see that Bradley was back to his old self again, irritating as he was. He was smiling angelically at her now. "What ever would make you fear for the safety of this lovely girl? Me?"  
  
"Cut the crap, Redfern. What you do in your spare time is of no concern to me as long as you keep it to yourself. So just try not to wake up the whole neighborhood with your bedroom antics, hmm?"  
  
"Oh, my dear, that wouldn't be any fun." He had now lowered his head to the unlucky girl's neck. He slowly and seductively licked off a stray drop of blood.  
  
Rayven cringed. She had no problem with the sight of blood, that wasn't what bothered her. What bothered her was Bradley himself, and his complete disregard for this girl. Sometimes he made her sick with the way he treated humans. Often, she wondered why he had bothered to join Circle Daybreak. Brad was a true Night Worlder, both physically and mentally. He just happened to have a human soulmate, that was all. Being attached to a human hadn't done much for his personality, though, Ray thought.  
  
When she had first met him, Bradley had been a wicked, human hating, womanizing, terrifying, and all around sarcastic vampire. Well, he didn't scare her anymore. Most of the time, at least.  
  
Ray sighed loudly. "Look Bradley, I don't think that I could take getting into a fight with you right now, not off of a half an hour's sleep, anyway. So please, can you just be a decent guy for once and let me sleep?" She pleaded to him with her eyes.  
  
Bradley still looked amused, but he said, "All right. I'm done with her anyway." He gripped the girl around her shoulders and lifted her out of his bed. He started to drag her towards their living room. Ray nearly blushed when she saw that all he was wearing were his boxers.  
  
Bradley stopped when he saw the expression on her face. Obviously amused at her reaction, he said, "What, like you haven't seen me in less?" This did not help to stop Ray from blushing.  
  
Laughing suddenly, he beckoned toward the door. "Here, open this for me so I can put her on the couch." Ray did as asked.  
  
"When do you ever get any sleep, Brad? It doesn't seem like you would ever have any time, what with these late-night snacks." She said this with obvious distaste, but Bradley ignored her as he said, "Whenever I don't have anything else to do. It's as good a way as any to pass the time." He tilted his head as he peered at her.  
  
"Don't you think?" He laid the girl down on the couch, not gently. He then proceeded to sprawl himself out on the loveseat, displaying his magnificent body. Ray sat down in the recliner across from him and yawned.  
  
"Geez, it's already 3:30." She said glancing at the grandfather clock behind Bradley.  
  
"You should get to bed, you haven't gotten much sleep all week." Bradley looked vaguely concerned. Which was about as concerned as he ever looked. Ray was touched.  
  
"No thanks to you." She tried to sound angry, but all of her energy was gone. He was right, she hadn't gotten much sleep during the last week, but it wasn't Bradley's fault. She had come down with a sudden case of insomnia. She had lied in her bed and stared at the ceiling for five nights straight. Tonight had been the first night in what seemed like decades that she actually felt sleepy. How Bradley knew about her affliction, she didn't know. At the moment, she didn't especially care, either.  
  
She found herself barely able to keep her eyes open all of the sudden. She slumped against the arm of the recliner, and stayed in that uncomfortable position for a couple of minutes, too tired to move. After a little while, strong arms wrapped around her and picked her up. She begrudgingly opened her eyes to see Bradley looking down on her, smiling. He was cradling her against his naked chest, and wherever their bare skin touched little sparks danced. The pink fuzz clouded her head as he carried her to her room and set her down in her bed, gently, unlike as it was with the other girl.  
  
"Goodnight, love." He said, knowing that the pet name would irritate her.  
  
"Goodnight, bastard." She whispered. She heard him laugh as he closed the door and she drifted off to sleep.  
  
* * * 


	2. part two

Thanks to you lovely folks who reviewed part one. I hope that you like part two.  
  
Greeneyes- This part will explain (to a small extent, anyway) why she's not jealous. They've got kind of a complicated relationship, but I'll do my best to clarify it. Oh, they're in love, don't worry, they just aren't all mushy like the other soulmate couples (though there is potential for them to be. I don't know yet.) Plenty of characterization coming up in these next couple of parts! :)  
  
LotrangelleDate- Hehe, it's getting longer, but I don't have much stamina for writing long stuff. Hopefully it'll be a longer fic in the end, though.  
  
Reduara, LadyNyght & Camilla- (Such nice folks) Thanks, I hope that you'll like the rest of it.  
  
Arukara- Hehe, bastards are the most interesting people, aren't they?  
  
  
  
  
  
~Part Two~  
  
Ray awoke to the piercing sound of her alarm clock. 7:05. 'Great,' she thought, 'Three and a half hours of sleep.' She cursed herself for not remembering to turn her alarm clock off. Now that she was awake, there was little chance of her going back to sleep.  
  
"Great, another weekend ruined." She said. As far as Ray was concerned, a weekend was not a weekend unless you got to sleep until at least 10:30.  
  
She blindly flung her arm out in an effort to find her alarm clock and throw it someplace far, far away. When this was finally accomplished, she stumbled out of bed and made her way to the bathroom, tripping on various articles of clothing, no doubt left over from Bradley's late night escapades.  
  
Ray frowned at the thought of her soulmate with another woman, but quickly pushed the thought away. She had long ago promised herself never to be jealous of any of Bradley's girlfriends.  
  
When she had first met him, Ray had made the mistake of trying to change Bradley. She had thought that with a little time and effort, she could turn Brad into somebody resembling a normal, non-sociopathic person.  
  
At first he had played along…but, after a while (a very short while, as it were) they both discovered that it was a futile cause. They had given up shortly after Bradley threw an unfortunate Daybreak counselor out of a 6- story window. The counselor had told Brad to "express his feelings", and so he did. 'Stubborn bastard', Ray thought.  
  
Ray had to admit that she and Bradley really were perfect for each other…in that aspect, at least. They were both unfailingly (and to many, annoyingly) stubborn. They were complete opposites as far as everything else…but fate had always seemed to have a sick sense of humor. Especially when it came to soulmates.  
  
Wrenching her thoughts away from Bradley, she proceeded to finish off her morning rituals. After she had spend about 10 minutes in the bathroom, she was jolted by Bradley's sharp knocking on the bathroom door.  
  
"Hurry up, will you? You're taking forever in there!" Bradley yelled at her through the door. He was even less of a morning person than she was.  
  
"I've been in here for ten minutes." Ray replied calmly.  
  
"Yeah, and I'm a vegetarian." The vampire oozed sarcasm.  
  
Ignoring him, she asked "Why are you in such a hurry anyway?"  
  
A slight pause, and then he said, "I have something to do."  
  
"That something being…?"  
  
"I have someone to meet." Ray didn't know how, but somehow she could tell that Bradley was smiling. Spitting out her toothpaste, she opened the door. She was right.  
  
Ray narrowed her eyes. Bradley was up to something. "Who-" she began, but was cut off as Bradley swept past her, nudged her out of the bathroom, and closed the door in her face. He had done all of this in about three seconds, and had still managed to plant a quick, teasing kiss on her forehead.  
  
"Bastard! Tell me who!" Ray was furious now, as Bradley tended to make her.  
  
"Nobody important." Ray could hear him brushing his teeth. She really wanted to hurt him sometimes.  
  
"Why are you being so secretive?" As angry as she was, he had her intrigued.  
  
Still brushing his teeth, Bradley answered in her head, ~Don't worry, love, you'll get to meet her soon enough. ~  
  
"What is she, one of your exes?" Ray asked, agitated.  
  
~Of sorts~ was his enigmatic reply.  
  
Ray was about to respond when she heard a faint moan coming from the living room. She slapped herself on her forehead when she realized that Brad's companion from last night was still laid out on the living room couch.  
  
"Argh, why can't you clean up your own messes, Brad?"  
  
~Because you do it so well, love. ~ Bradley replied almost playfully.  
  
Ray trudged down the hall. "I need a friggin break." She mumbled as she made her way to the living room.  
  
She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the girl from last night. She was standing straight ahead of her, and Ray could see the wild look in her eyes. That wasn't what had stopped her, though. What stopped her was the gun that the girl was holding, pointed straight ahead at Ray.  
  
* * *  
  
Keep reviewing folks!!!! 


	3. Part three

Part Three  
  
Ray could only stand there, speechless. She stared in horror at the girl as she started to speak.  
  
"Who are you!? Are you one of them??" She asked, sounding more than a little bit crazy.  
  
"I'm R-ray. I l-live h-here." Ray hardly noticed how her voice quaked. It's hard to think of much else when you have a gun aimed at your vital organs.  
  
"Answer my question! Are you one of them!?"  
  
"One of who?! I don't know what you're talking about!" Ray was so terrified that she didn't even notice that she was yelling at a crazy woman with a gun.  
  
"Don't play dumb!" Her eyes had a fanatical glare to them as she spat out her next words. "Are you one of those scum??"  
  
Ray was on the verge of tears. This girl was making no sense and Ray feared that she might pay for this girl's schizophrenia with her life. Where the hell was Bradley!?  
  
Ray had a sudden moment of clarity. This crazy girl obviously wasn't going to explain herself any further. Her best bet was to play along.  
  
Cautiously, she said, "No, I'm not."  
  
The girl stared at her for a long moment, unblinking. Then she shook her head. It was an odd movement, almost spastic. This girl was definitely a few cards short of a full deck.  
  
"No…no, you're not. You don't move like them." She paused to give Ray a meaningful glance. "Like him."  
  
Ray decided to take a risk and question the girl further. "Him? Him who?"  
  
The girl looked irritated. "Who else? Him! HIM!"  
  
Ray's mind spun with the whole situation. She tried to calm the girl down. "Oh, him, how could I be so stupid?"  
  
The girl shivered. At that moment she didn't look crazy anymore, just scared. She looked like a terrified little girl. There was potential for Ray to even feel sorry for the girl…provided that she put the gun away.  
  
"He's a monster, you know. He's evil. He's-" The girl suddenly broke off her tirade. She seemed to be seeing something behind Ray. She visibly paled.  
  
"You…" She said, and then she fired the gun.  
  
Everything happened too fast for Ray to follow. One second she was watching a lunatic fire a gun at her, and the next she was being thrown to the carpet, propelled by unseen hands.  
  
She was sore from her harsh landing. Her neck ached as she turned to look where she had last seen the crazy lady.  
  
The crazy girl was still there, but now she stood rigidly, and she no longer held the gun. Ray scanned the floor for it, but she didn't see it.  
  
Suddenly hands were cupping her face forcing her to turn around and look whoever it was in the eyes.  
  
She had never been so happy to see Bradley.  
  
"Are you alright?" He tenderly propped her up against the coffee table. Her body cried out wherever she touched it. Bradley looked as worried as she had ever seen him. It filled his eyes, softening his whole face. For once, Bradley looked like something approaching human.  
  
"Did she hurt you?" he growled, anger quickly replacing his worry. He had his hands on both sides of her face, bringing it level with his. She could feel his anger through the soulmate connection, tingling along her skin, making the tiny hairs on her arms and neck stand up.  
  
"For her sake, she better not have hurt you." He had that familiar homicidal glint back in his eyes, and Ray noticed that his fangs were lengthening as he spoke. He looked like his old self again, and at that moment, Ray pitied the poor girl.  
  
"I'm fine…just a little bit sore. She's crazy, she probably didn't even know what she was doing. It's not even her fault that I'm hurt………" Ray trailed off. She knew that Bradley wasn't listening anymore. He only had eyes for the girl.  
  
He eased her back on to the coffee table, and slowly sauntered over to where the girl stood, unmoving. Ray guessed that he was using some sort of mind control on the girl o keep her still. He walked until he was standing right on top of the girl. He stared at her thoughtfully for a moment.  
  
"Annabel. How could I have forgotten?" He trailed his finger along the line of her jaw. She whimpered.  
  
"Bradley, stop it." Ray said, still leaning on the coffee table.  
  
"Stop? This girl was willing to kill you five minutes ago, and now you want me to stop?" He turned around to meet her eyes. He smiled then, a cold, empty smile that sent chills down her spine.  
  
"My love, I'll stop when I've had my fun." And at that, the girl began to scream.  
  
* * *  
  
Like? Sorry about the length, but there's more to come, folks. 


	4. Part four

Thanks again for reviewing!!! Reviewers are GODS!  
  
Amy- Thanks, I hate clichéd fics. A few may have slipped in though, hehe.  
  
LadyNyght- What can I say? Brad's a loose cannon.  
  
Meg- Yup, just a little farther down than most soulmate couples.  
  
Arukara- Hehe, not on this day she's not. I'm thinking about ending this with her hospitalized for sleep deprivation. Hmm, maybe…….  
  
Reduara- Yeah, and maybe they could wear a bubble suit, too! Hehe  
  
Lotrangelle- Here ya go. hehe  
  
Part Four  
  
Bradley clamped a hand on the girl's mouth.  
  
"Shh…shhh…we don't want to disturb the neighbors." He threw a mischievous glance at Ray. "Not again."  
  
Ray glared at Bradley. "Bradley, don't do this. Let her go." She pleaded, scorn laced through her words. Bradley just stared back at her, his face revealing no emotions.  
  
"Sorry Ray, but this must be done." He replied simply. Ray looked into Bradley's icy green eyes and found herself thinking of how quickly he could change personalities. One second he was her warm and loving soulmate and the next he was a cold, uncaring killer. Nobody did multiple personalities like Bradley.  
  
Bradley turned back to Annabel. "Now, Anny my dear, what made you decide to pay us this sudden visit?" Bradley was now sitting on the coffee table, directly across from the girl and with his back to Ray.  
  
Annabel was looking somewhere behind Bradley, trying her very best not to meet his eyes. 'Smart girl', Ray thought wryly.  
  
"I wanted to see you die," was her reply. Bradley laughed, a full, disturbing sound.  
  
"Really?" Ray knew from experience that he had his characteristic amused expression in place now. "And why is that?"  
  
"You ruined my life!" she spat. The pure hatred in Annabel's eyes made Ray cringe.  
  
"My god…what did he do to you?" Ray asked, voice filled with a kind of disgusted wonder.  
  
Bradley laughed again. "Good question. What did I do?"  
  
This time the girl really did spit at him. Brad made no attempt to move, and that made Ray fear for the girl even more. He went completely still.  
  
"Answer her question, Anny." Bradley said quietly, intoning each word.  
  
The girl stared straight at Bradley, defiant. She had regained her composure. Ray decided that she might like this girl…if she weren't completely loony, of course.  
  
"Talk." Bradley commanded, and the girl had no choice but to obey.  
  
"You killed my soulmate." She whispered.  
  
Ray guessed that Bradley's eyebrows were now somewhere near his hairline.  
  
"Did I?"  
  
"You don't even remember him, do you!? He was my other half and you just killed him on a whim!"  
  
"Sorry, but it's hard to keep track of every idiot that crosses my path." Ray found herself feeling the familiar urge to slap her soulmate.  
  
"Who was he?" Ray asked, in the effort of calming the girl down.  
  
"His name was Jack Roeddings. He was perfect. He was mine. And your boyfriend here killed him."  
  
Ray found herself with the irrational urge to correct the girl. Bradley was not her boyfriend. She was beginning to feel sorry for Annabel even more.  
  
She could sense realization dawning on Bradley. "Ah, the pacifist shapeshifter."  
  
"He was an angel! You had no right to kill him!"  
  
Bradley scoffed. "An angel? Hardly. As I recall, before he fell in love and went ball-less, he was quite the joyful killer." He said a bit more solemnly, "We used to be good friends."  
  
"His past doesn't matter! Love changed him; he didn't want to be like he was anymore. He wanted to make due for his past, become a decent person." She paused and took a long look at Bradley.  
  
"Unlike you."  
  
"That's nice honey, but I tire of this conversation. Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you now." He said this plainly, as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world to threaten to murder a person. Ray hoped that the girl could come up with a good reason.  
  
"I don't care if I die." She replied calmly. "As long as I take someone down with me."  
  
Before Ray could react, the girl dove for her. The last thing that Ray thought before losing consciousness was that this was turning out to be a very bad day.  
  
* * * 


	5. Part Five

(I can't believe that I forgot it, but here's the obligatory disclaimer: I don't own the Night World, L.J. Smith does. If ever someone feels the urge to sue me, just remember that I'm dirt poor and that you'd be wasting valuable time and money on the court proceedings. Brad and Ray are all mine, though. That said, here's part 5.)  
  
Arukara- Nah, Ray's still due for a good night's sleep. Whether or not she'll actually get it……….  
  
Part Five  
  
Ray awoke to the sound of Bradley humming Beethoven's "Fur Elise". It was, along with everything else ever composed by Beethoven, one of his favorite songs. Often she would find him at their piano, seemingly in a trance, immersing himself in his solo performance. He didn't seem to care about anything else when he played. Ray treasured those rare moments of peace.  
  
Ray found herself wondering where she was. She could feel cool sheets underneath her, and her head was propped up on a pillow. She groggily opened her eyes.  
  
She was in Bradley's room, which, she had to admit, was a great place to wake up in after being knocked out. His room was dark, painted an olive green color, with the occasional gray piece of furniture here and there. All of the curtains were down, darkening the room even more. The occasional stray trace of sunlight got through, but not enough to bother anyone with a hangover, which was close enough to what Ray was feeling now. Bradley's room was cool and dark, perfectly reflecting the personality of its owner.  
  
"Awake already, huh?" Ray turned her head slightly to see Bradley sitting in a chair on the side of the bed, book in hand. He was a sharp contrast to his room, with his silver-white hair and pale complexion, yet he looked perfectly in place. He was sitting sideways in his chair, leaning on the wall behind him, and facing her. He touched a spot on the side of Ray's head, and the sparks that jumped from his fingers took the edge off of her unrelenting headache.  
  
"She hit you pretty hard. How do you feel?"  
  
Ray gingerly sat up. "Urgh…I feel like I've just been shot out of a Howitzer." Bradley chuckled. "How long have I been out?"  
  
"About ten minutes."  
  
"That's all!? I can't even get a decent nap when somebody knocks me out…" Ray sighed loudly and closed her eyes. Suddenly, she remembered something.  
  
"Hey, what happened to Annabel?" Ray asked, suspicion showing on her face.  
  
"Who?" Bradley feigned innocence. Ray chucked a pillow at his head.  
  
He caught it easily and sat it back on the bed. "She's gone."  
  
"Well where's she gone to?"  
  
Bradley laughed. "Don't worry love, I didn't kill her." His tone left much to be imagined.  
  
"Brad, stop talking in puzzles. What did you do with her?" Ray's tone was firm, and it only served to make Bradley more amused. He just smiled at her devilishly.  
  
"You're not going to tell me, are you?" Ray's voice held resignation. She was incredibly worn out, and, in all truth, she wasn't too sure that she wanted to know what Bradley had done with the girl. Besides, how much damage could he have done in ten minutes? Ray grimaced at the thought.  
  
"Very perceptive, love. Can I get you anything?" As much as she hated to admit it, Ray was grateful for the sudden change of subject.  
  
"Chocolate." Ray's eyes were dreamy. "Anything containing chocolate."  
  
Bradley knew her well enough not to protest. No man dared to come between Ray and chocolate. "As you wish, Milady. I'll be right back."  
  
As Bradley got up and left, Ray thought about how nice it was to have her soulmate wait on her for once. They were both being uncharacteristically civil towards each other today. Ray wondered how long it would last.  
  
She didn't have to wonder long, though, as her thought were interrupted by the sound of the front door slamming and a loud, cultured female voice shouting, "What happened to you, Bradley!? You were supposed to pick me up!" Ray's head cried out at the pure volume of the visitor's voice.  
  
It seemed that Bradley's ex had arrived.  
  
* * * 


	6. Part Six

Allright, the evil writer's block is gone, and I think that I know what I'm doing now. Thanks for you guys' help!!  
  
**Thanks Tjones for telling me that ch 6 was a repeat. I accidentally copied the wrong chapter. Sorry!!  
  
Arukara- yup, it's the ex. She might be posh, but she sure ain't human…I think…hehe, just read on.  
  
Meg- Weird couples are the only interesting ones, chica!  
  
Emerald Redfern- Hehe, I love Bradley, too. Thanks for the ideas, some of it's going in here, I think. It would be nice for Bradley to realize how important Ray is to him, but I think that deep down, albeit very deep down, he already knows. It would just be against his nature to say it out loud. I think that Ray might know too.  
  
Amy- Great teacher, I have waited, and the answer has come. I bow to you.  
  
Reduara- No plotbunnies?? Darn, hehe. I don't know if I could bear to kill off either of them, but if that's what has to happen, so be it. Hopefully not. I let my mind wander plenty, and it worked pretty well. Thanks.  
  
Kendal- Thanks, I'm trying my best not to make them some boring lax-in-love couple. (btw, I LOVE Illusoire, hehe)  
  
All of that said, here's Part Six  
  
* * *  
  
Part Six  
  
"This day really can't get much better!" Ray grumbled, mock-cheerfully.  
  
"Oh Bradley, it's been so long!" The girl squealed. Ray placed a pillow over her head. She tried to think of the unopened pack of Hershey's Special Darks in the fridge. It helped, but she could still hear the girl. She wondered if Bradley would ever make it back with her precious chocolate.  
  
"You look great!" The girl added.  
  
"Thanks." Ray was relieved to hear Bradley's smooth (and fantastically quiet) reply. "So do you."  
  
The girl made a noise that Ray could only describe as an ecstatic screech. "Come here and give me a hug!" Ray heard rapid footstep followed by Bradley's surprised "Oomph!"  
  
Ray had now decided that if she was ever going to get her chocolate, she was going to have to get it herself. Besides, she was curious about Bradley's ex. It was rare for one of them to make a repeat visit, and even rarer for Bradley to knowingly let them into the house.  
  
Ray swung her legs over the side of the bed and tentatively lifted herself to her feet. Her legs protested, but not nearly as badly as her head. Ray was beginning to worry that she had a concussion, and she had the sinking suspicion that she would be bruised come tomorrow. Internal injury or no, though, she was going to get her Hershey's, damnit!  
  
Ray stopped in the doorway to the kitchen. She could see Bradley standing by the fridge, chocolate in hand. She hadn't noticed before, but Bradley was wearing actual clothes now. He was wearing a pair of plain black slacks, and a very light blue tee shirt. It was such an ordinary outfit, but Bradley looked like he could walk down a runway right then and steal the entire show. Ray thought that Bradley could probably walk around in a potato sack and still have the same effect on her. It annoyed the hell out of her.  
  
Ray turned her attention to the girl standing, by Ray's guess, approximately two and a half inches away from Bradley. She was beautiful, Ray had to give her that. She was a slight girl, with long, shiny russet hair that was perfectly styled, perfectly perfect. Her face was…also perfect. She had big hazel eyes, and a cute little nose. Her mouth was full and pouty, the kind that she assumed would be called "inviting". At the moment, she had those lips firmly attached to Bradley, along with her arms wrapped tightly around his upper chest. Ray absentmindedly noted that the while the girl was standing on her tiptoes, Bradley still had to lean over a little bit in order for her to reach him.  
  
For a little while, Bradley just stood there, not kissing or hugging her back. Ray guessed that Brad thought something along the lines of 'Ah well, might as well enjoy myself.', because he finally gave in and gave back to the girl. Ray absentmindedly noted that the while the girl was standing on her tiptoes, Bradley still had to lean over a little bit in order for her to reach him.  
  
Ray felt a brief pang of jealousy, but quickly pushed it away. If she was going to care about anything in her kitchen, then it was going to be the Hershey's bar. That was the plan, at least. She cleared her throat.  
  
The new girl quickly pulled back from Bradley, surprised. Bradley just drew away from the girl and stood back up straight. Ray thought that she could see him smiling slightly at her, but chose to ignore that.  
  
The girl was still staring at her with wide eyes when Bradley said, "Ray, meet Maeve. Maeve, Ray. I'm sure that you two will love each other." Bradley added in what was an even more sardonic tone, "You two have so much in common."  
  
"Maeve" looked at Ray curiously. She sidled over to rest on Brad's arm. She flirtatiously looked up at Brad and asked, "Bradley, honey, who is that?" She batted her eyelids at him. Ray briefly wondered if she was dreaming.  
  
She was quickly brought back to reality with Bradley's words "That," he said, motioning to Ray with his free hand, which, incidentally held Ray's beloved chocolate, ", is my soulmate." Ray didn't think that she had ever heard him use the term so freely.  
  
He freed himself from the iron grip that Maeve now held on his arm, and maneuvered himself over to Ray, ignoring Maeve's desperate whimpers.  
  
"Maeve's going to be staying with us for a couple of days. Since we don't have a guest room, she'll be staying in your room." He laughed at incredulous look on Ray's face. He made an attempt to somber himself, but failed.  
  
"Oh yeah, here you go. I almost forgot." He handed her the chocolate bar.  
  
"Thanks." Ray gave him a look that would send a lesser man cowering at his mommy's heels. "We need to talk." She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards her bedroom. As they passed by Maeve, Ray could have sworn that she'd heard the smaller girl hiss at her.  
  
Bradley started humming something, and Ray was much annoyed to find that it was "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning.."  
  
* * * 


	7. Part Seven

Part Seven  
  
"You're really being impolite, love." Bradley chided as Ray dragged him along. "Poor Maeve drove all the way from California and here you are treating her as if she were unwanted." He said all of this with a slight, but distinct smirk.  
  
When they reached her room, Ray closed the door behind them and let go of her deathgrip on Bradley's arm. She, with much effort, gained some of her composure and looked Bradley squarely in the eye.  
  
"Allright Brad, a couple questions." She held up a hand and counted off as she spoke.  
  
"Number one, who is she? Number two, what is she? Three, is she dangerous. And number four, why the HELL is she here?!" Ray was fuming now, turning slightly red around the cheeks.  
  
Bradley reached out and pinched one of the offending cheeks, only to be slapped away by an incensed Ray. He grinned, but tried nothing further.  
  
He sighed. "All right then, if you insist on barraging me with questions." He held up a graceful finger. "She is Maeve, if you haven't picked up on that yet." Ray slapped Brad over the head with a magazine, still not managing to wipe the grin off of his face.  
  
"You know what I meant." She said.  
  
"All right, fine. She is one of my ex girlfriends." Ray urged him to continue. He sighed, once again, but he went on. "Maeve Bluebirch's the name. We were quite the serious couple when we were younger, though I think that she was much more interested in me than I was in her." Bradley was no longer smirking. He looked sort of…wistful, as if he were remembering something. He continued.  
  
"Our families knew each other very well, so I guess that you could say that we were set up. I found her somewhat dim, though. I guess that we weren't the "perfect couple" that our families wanted us to be." He chuckled quietly. "Too bad."  
  
He seemed to realize what he had said and quickly returned to himself. He finished off, in typical Bradley tones, "I tired of the arrangement after a while, so I broke it off. I think that she still harbors a little crush on me, though."  
  
He looked at Ray now, who had cooled off a great deal. "Does that answer you question?"  
  
It was Ray's turn to smile now, as she said, "One of them. Go on." It was rare for Bradley to reveal his feelings, but Ray could think about that later. Right now, all that mattered was finding out about the strange girl who was, supposedly, sleeping with her tonight. She sat down on her bed.  
  
Bradley leaned back against a wall. "She's a vampire, lamia if that makes any difference." He smiled sardonically at Ray. "That reminds me, try not to get on her bad side. She's sort of…flighty. She has an amazing temper…believe me, and there's nothing worse than an unhinged vampire."  
  
"You're telling me." Ray mumbled, referring to a certain sadistic soulmate that she had. She took note of his warning, though. Bradley rarely lied to her.  
  
Bradley ignored her. "I believe that I have already answered you next question, at least partially. She is dangerous, though it's more by nature than by her own character. I doubt that she'd ever attack anyone." He grinned at Ray. "She'd probably be too afraid of breaking a nail." Ray couldn't help but grin back.  
  
Bradley was quickly serious again. "Just don't provoke her love, and you won't get maimed."  
  
"Next question!" His abrupt change of mood caught Ray off guard, causing her to jump. She scowled at him as he continued. "Why is she here…Well, I guess that you could say that she's here for our guidance." He said enigmatically.  
  
Ray eyed him suspiciously. "What do you mean?"  
  
Bradley's face was now devoid of any emotion. "She's here because she's defecting from the Night World. She's come to join circle Daybreak."  
  
"What? Why would she do that?"  
  
Bradley shrugged, then walked over to the bed and sat down next to Ray. "I have no idea love, all that I know is that we've been assigned to show her the ropes."  
  
"Great." Ray said simply. She lay back on her bed, her face pressed against her demented bunny sheets. She had brought them at a specialty store a long time ago, even before she had met Bradley. They displayed a powder blue bunny with huge eyes and razor sharp teeth. The bunny held a mangled carrot in its hand as it grinned savagely back at the world. They were Ray's favorite sheets.  
  
She felt a hand on her shoulder, shaking her lightly, but firmly.  
  
"Come on, we've been in here for about a half an hour. Wouldn't want her to think that she's not welcome." Ray didn't need to look at Bradley to see that he was once again smiling.  
  
Ray sat back up and looked at Bradley. "Why do you make my life so difficult? Before I met you, my life was ridiculously normal." She never blinked as she said, "I am not sleeping in the same room as her."  
  
Before Ray could react, Brad placed his hand underneath her chin and pulled her in for a kiss. Ray tried to protest, but the soulmate bond would have none of it. The electric connection between the two of them opened up in full force, pushing all other thoughts out of her head. She finally gave in and, not without a little enjoyment, gave in to his kiss.  
  
When they finally pulled away from each other, Bradley held on to her face. Ray, who was still breathless, just stared at him.  
  
"Before you met me, my love," he breathed, "your life was ridiculously dull."  
  
Ray pulled away from Bradley, composure regained, and slapped him squarely in the face.  
  
For a second, he just looked shocked, his still head turned in the direction that the slap had turned it in. Then he slowly turned back to Ray, eyes burning with anger.  
  
"You bastard, don't ever do that again." She said threateningly. "I'm not one of your 5 hour girlfriends. You can't just kiss me and expect me to go along with whatever you want!"  
  
Bradley smiled grimly, and Ray could see that his fangs had sharpened, a sure sign that she really had angered him. 'Good' she thought.  
  
"Yes, you never were that agreeable." He shook his head. "Come on." He got up to leave, and turned around when he reached the doorway.  
  
"Look, you don't have to agree with me." Ray looked up at him, still glowering.  
  
"She sleeps in the living room." Ray stated.  
  
Bradley sighed. "Fine." He said. He smiled slightly. "Are you coming?"  
  
Ray looked resigned. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Bradley held the door open for her. She stood up and strode out of her room, saying nothing to him as she walked past him.  
  
Maeve was sitting on the sofa, reading a magazine. She looked up when she heard Ray.  
  
"Hi." Ray said.  
  
"…Hi."  
  
'Oh yeah,' Ray thought as she sat down on the seat farthest away form Maeve. 'This'll be fun.'  
  
* * * 


	8. Part Eight

Once again, thanks to all of you guys for reviewing! I wouldn't be writing this if it weren't for you guys.  
  
Arukara- Yeah, I'm surprised, too, though I'm sure that she has had the urge before.  
  
Eri- Thanks, hehe.  
  
Emerald Redfern- Hehe, I can't wait for the next chapter either, I'm kind of writing each chapter on the spur of the moment, though, so I don't know when I'll write next. My finals are coming up soon, too, and I'm afraid that my updates might be affected. Thanks, though, you really were a big help.  
  
Jeporra James- Hehe, here you go, you can move now. (btw…patience is a virtue, young grasshopper *shakes finger reproachingly*) Now go eat something :)  
  
Aife Bisclaveret- Yeah, I'm glad that Ray slapped him too. I'm not too big of a fan of weak heroines and stuff, though they can be amusing :)  
  
Kendal- I don't know exactly how Brad feels toward Ray, actually. He's sort of got a life of his own, you know? Their relationship's a bit convoluted, I admit, but any relationship with Bradley would be, hehe. I'll explain Maeve's role over the next couple of chapters, I think.  
  
Laura- Thanks for the compliment on Bradley!! I'm trying to write at least a chapter every three days, but my updates might slow down a bit, as I've got a HUGE assignment coming up for school. I'll try to keep updating, though.  
  
Reduara- I'm so happy for you! Maybe next you can tackle those alphabets, hehe.  
  
And here's……………..  
  
Part Eight  
  
Ray stared at the ceiling as Bradley came in. She thought that she saw him sit down in the seat adjacent to Maeve, a little closer than was necessary. Looking down, she could see that she was right. She could also see that Bradley had his arm draped over the girl as if he owned her. Maeve didn't seem to mind the Cro-Magnon gesture, as she just sat and stared at Ray, seeming to be assessing her for all of her faults.  
  
For the first time all day, Ray realized how she must look. She had never changed out of her blue and white flannel pajamas, and had never ever even managed to finish up in the bathroom (thanks to Bradley). Her hair was only halfheartedly combed and she had the sinking suspicion that traces of toothpaste still lingered around her mouth.  
  
She was a sharp contrast to Maeve, who looked flawless, brushed hair and all. Ray suddenly felt self-conscious. Something had to be done.  
  
"Excuse me, but I've, uh, got to use the bathroom." Ray left to the sound of Maeve's victorious "hurmph". Ray disliked the girl more and more as the day went along.  
  
Ray went to her room first to gather up some clothes, and then headed to the bathroom. She washed her face quickly, changed her clothes, and, with a sigh, headed back out into the living room to face the music.  
  
Bradley and Maeve were still sitting on the couch, seemingly immersed in some meaningful conversation. When Maeve noticed that Ray had returned, she stopped talking and fixed an icy glare on Ray. She took her seat and tried to think of something to say.  
  
"Sooo…Why are you here again?" Smooth Ray, nice and subtle, she thought to herself.  
  
The girl looked as if the sight of Ray offended her, but Bradley nudged her to answer. She looked sullen, then slightly confused.  
  
"Well, I had some…problems back at home." She looked down at the floor. "I had heard about Circle Daybreak, and I thought that they would probably take me in. Offer protection and stuff like that." She looked up and met Ray's eyes. "And so they did."  
  
Ray raised an eyebrow. "Protection?"  
  
Maeve looked at Bradley, haughty frustration written on her face. "How many questions is she going to ask me? Gawd." Bradley just laughed.  
  
"As many as it takes to get the answer that she wants." He said simply, dismissively. "Answer her." Maeve nodded, and it was obvious that she really didn't want to proceed, but it seemed that she would do whatever Bradley told her to. Ray was amazed at the hold that Bradley had over this girl.  
  
"I got in trouble back at home." She paused, and twirled a piece of her hair absentmindedly. "I had a fiancé, Rafael, and he…he treated me very badly. One day he came after me and I…I sort of snapped." Maeve's eyes were empty now, but Ray thought that she could see a dim flicker of remorse in there, somewhere. "I killed him."  
  
'Ah.' Ray thought.  
  
~Ah indeed. ~ Bradley returned. They exchanged a glance, and Ray thought that she saw surprise register on his face. It was gone too quickly for her to be sure, though.  
  
"So I'm here for protection from the vigilantes back at home. They don't believe in self-defense, it seems." Her voice was laced with irony.  
  
"Especially when it comes from a woman, huh?" Maeve smiled slightly.  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"I hate to break this up, but we should be going." He looked at Ray, lime bright eyes sparkling. "I forgot to tell you, but we've got to meet up with someone else."  
  
Ray clutched her head. "Someone else. Great. Who's it this time? Please don't tell me that it's another one of your ex-girlfriends."  
  
Bradley smiled beatifically. "No, actually. This one is a man." Ray raised her eyebrows. "Your type of guy, if I remember correctly." He was still beaming at her.  
  
Not missing a beat, Ray replied sweetly, "The opposite of you, you mean?"  
  
"Something along those lines, yes." He leaned back in his seat. "He's a witch, not very strong, but from what I've been told, he has a big heart." Bradley looked as if he would soon burst from holding in his laughter.  
  
"Ah, a decent guy, what a change of pace. I can't wait to meet him."  
  
Bradley stood up. "Neither can I." He smiled widely at her, showing off his fangs. Ray was slightly confused at the way that Bradley was acting. If she didn't know any better, she would say that Bradley was acting almost…threatened.  
  
He extended a hand to Maeve, who was still sitting down. She took it and let Bradley lift her. When she was standing the two of them shared a quick, but passionate kiss. Ray stiffened.  
  
~Phft…you think that bothers me? ~ Ray mentally said to Bradley.  
  
~What ever are you talking about, love? ~ Bradley sent back innocently. ~And why are you so tense all of the sudden? ~  
  
"Let's go meet this guy." Ray said aloud. She wasn't jealous, she told herself, just disgusted at the way that Bradley and Maeve carried on. Yes, she almost believed that.  
  
Bradley nodded and exited through the front door, towing Maeve behind him.  
  
Ray watched Bradley and his ex get into the car, Bradley in the driver's side, and Maeve in the passenger's seat. Ray followed and took her place in the backseat of Bradley's shiny black Porsche.  
  
Ray buckled her seatbelt and leaned her head against the car door. She hoped to get at least a quick nap out of this whole deal. It was not be though, as the moment that she closed her eyes, loud, rude heavy metal was pumped out by the car's sound system. Ray looked to the front seat, only to see Maeve shaking her head to the music, a smug smile in place.  
  
Ray wondered why fate couldn't have been nice and fair and made these two soulmates. They certainly deserved each other.  
  
* * * 


	9. Part Nine

Before I start, I owe Reduara some MAJOR credit for this part. Most of this chapter are her ideas. Thanks so much chica!!  
  
Jenni NW- Hehe, these chapters are long for me. I think that I've managed about 6,000 words by now…that's a big step up from my usually 150 page essays. You've got to remember that I'm terribly lazy here.  
  
Diomede- Thanks!! I know that it's weird, but I think that Ray accept her soulmate way more completely than most of the other chicks out there. She takes him as he is, irritating or no. Besides, she a and Bradley really are a lot alike, whether it's obvious or not.  
  
Arukara- Hehe, maybe Ray could give them the aforementioned arse-kicking, hmm?  
  
Reduara- Bradley's going to be himself (smiles evilly) and we'll see how that turns out. Somebody's ass is going to get kicked, I know that much.  
  
Thanks Eri and Mandy!!!  
  
Lotrangelle- Hehe, I'm glad that I could make her hateable!!  
  
DragonWriter- I don't think that there's *anything* that Brad can do to make up for all of Ray's lost sleep, the bastard. I think that I might rent out Bradley to all of the folks who want to beat him up. I'd finally be rich!!  
  
Jeporra James- Full points!!! Dude! Hunger no more, chica, hunger no more…here's the rest.  
  
Part Nine  
  
  
  
Ray was staring out of the window, trying to focus on the scenery and tune out the cacophonic music that still poured out of the speakers when she spotted a familiar navy blue jeep pulled over to the side of the road.  
  
"Rusty's here?" Ray asked eagerly, her bad mood quickly dissipating at the thought of seeing him.  
  
"There." Bradley said, motioning to a spot straight ahead of them. Sure enough, there was Rusty, standing in the middle of the road. Ray could see that he was grinning savagely. Bradley pulled over behind Rusty's jeep. Ray hopped out of the car and ran to greet her friend.  
  
Rusty Harman-Meyers was Circle Daybreak's premier techie, and he certainly looked the part. His gingery hair was eternally tousled, and his clothes hadn't matched in…well, Ray couldn't remember the last time that his clothes had matched. At the moment, he was wearing a black t-shirt that was plain except for the blue emblazoned "Final Fantasy" logo written across the front of it. His green army pants were slightly ill fitting, but well worn. Chunky black glasses framed his faraway violet eyes.  
  
"RUSTY!!!" Ray screamed as she ran up to him and hugged him violently. "Why are you here?"  
  
Rusty returned the hug, just as zealously as Ray had. "I'm here on a job." Ray had missed his warm surfer-dude drawl. He pointed a thumb back over his shoulder. "I was the closest agent to this dude so they ordered me to chauffer him over here." He scratched his head and Ray grinned at the familiarity of the gesture. "I guess he doesn't have a car."  
  
Ray looked over Rusty's shoulder and gasped.  
  
This guy was gorgeous. Nothing more and nothing less. Ray had seen some good-looking guys before, not to mention the fact that Bradley looked like…well, himself, but this man was striking in a way that was all his own.  
  
He had long, dark brown hair that was so dark that it was easily mistakable for black. Ray was looking too hard to mistake it though. It was loose just then, and it kind of haloed around him, outlining his face. His eyes were a serene oasis of blue; warm, welcoming, and strangely hypnotic…yet safe. As he moved toward the two of them Ray could see that he was grinning shyly at her. Ray smiled back at him and thought, "A little humility…ah, thank god."  
  
Ray couldn't help but to mentally compare the stranger to Bradley. They were so different in appearance and demeanor that she couldn't resist. While Bradley was maybe half a foot taller than Ray, this man was at least a head and a half taller than her. While Bradley was glib and arrogant, this guy seemed to be open and pleasant, someone that you could let your guard down with without fear of getting hurt. Everywhere that Bradley was dark, the stranger seemed to be light.  
  
"Hi." He said, flashing her a bright smile. Rusty jumped. He hadn't seen the stranger come up behind him.  
  
"Oh damn!" He cursed. "I forgot all about you, man." He said, scratching his head again. "This is Aspen Weald. Aspen, this is Rayven Nowell."  
  
Ray smiled as he held his hand out to her. She shook it and said, "It's Ray. Nobody calls me by my real name besides my mom."  
  
"Ray it is, then."  
  
"Hey, where's Brad?" Rusty interrupted. For the first time, Ray noticed that Rusty didn't seem to be very comfortable around the new guy. He had seemed to tighten up when Aspen came over to talk. Ray thought that's she would ask him about it later. "He's missing all the fun."  
  
Aspen looked curious. "Who's Bradley?"  
  
"That would be me." Bradley said this from somewhere unnervingly close behind Ray. He walked around to stand next to her. Eyes wide in mock curiosity, he said, "And you would be…?"  
  
"Aspen…Aspen Weald." As he had done before with Ray, he held out his hand to Bradley.  
  
Bradley smiled slightly at the witch but ignored his hand.  
  
"…And why are you here?"  
  
Aspen looked a bit hurt, but took Bradley's slight in stride. He answered in measured tones, "I'm here on assignment from the west coast branch of Circle Daybreak. I was actually planning to move over here, but it turned out that there was some lady in need of a partner…so here I am."  
  
Ray raised her eyebrows. So, this guy was going to be Maeve's partner? She turned to Bradley.  
  
"Where is Maeve? Why isn't she trailing behind you like a sick puppy?"  
  
"She's still in the car. You didn't notice? She fell asleep on the way here." Ray was filled with a kind of jealous anger. Laughter was evident in Bradley's eyes.  
  
"Ahem…can I talk to her?" Ray had momentarily forgotten about Aspen. She was about to answer him when Bradley cut in.  
  
"Of course you can talk to her! As a matter of fact, why don't we all go out and get acquainted?" He addressed Rusty. "I remember that you were especially fond of Giovanni's." Rusty nodded, smiling at the thought of his favorite restaurant.  
  
Giovanni's was the local Italian restaurant, and in both Ray and Rusty's opinions, the best Italian restaurant on the east coast. Ray and Bradley often went there, though Bradley rarely ate.  
  
"Giovanni's it is, then." He moved forward to say something to Aspen. "We can all get something to eat." Ray saw that Bradley was giving Aspen a malevolent sharp-toothed grin. Aspen gulped, but didn't back down. He got major brownie points from Ray for that.  
  
Ray grabbed Bradley's arm, which was currently covered with a brown suede jacket. He turned and smiled at her, but refused to let her move him. Ray hated a stubborn vampire.  
  
"Meet you there." Bradley said, and almost palpable dislike flashed between the two of them.  
  
"Yeah, see you there." Aspen replied, and returned Bradley's challenging smirk. Bradley allowed Ray to haul him away.  
  
Ray shouted a goodbye to Rusty, which he enthusiastically returned. After a little hesitation, she called goodbye to Aspen, too. He turned and beamed at her while waving. She watched them disappear into Rusty's jeep.  
  
When Ray and Bradley arrived back at his car, she let go of him. She couldn't help but notice Maeve sprawled across the front seat, mouth gaping open with drool leaking out of the sides. Ray tore her eyes away from that memorable picture and reprimanded Bradley.  
  
"What are you doing? You don't even know that guy and already you're trying to start a fight with him?!" Even for Bradley, this was unusual.  
  
Bradley just shrugged. Ray waited for him to say something, but he just stood there and stared at her, uncompromising. She crossed her arms.  
  
"Oh come on, Brad. What do you have against him?" Ray asked, exasperated. "He seems like a nice guy."  
  
"Does he?" Bradley asked. "Yes, he does seem like a nice guy." He sighed and reached out to brush away a stray piece of Ray's hair.  
  
"Ah…so naïve." He chuckled and got into the car, pushing Maeve's outstretched leg out of his seat before he sat down.  
  
Ray didn't know what he was talking about, but she found it strange that both he and Rusty, who liked just about everybody, took such an immediate disliking to Aspen. She wondered what it was that they could see that she couldn't. Maybe it was just some macho thing. Yeah, she thought, that was probably it.  
  
She got into the car and Bradley drove off. It had started to rain.  
  
"How appropriate." Ray thought, and she heard Bradley laugh inside her head.  
  
* * * 


	10. Part Ten

Sorry that it took so long for me to update, but I'm up to my elbows in schoolwork.  
  
Does anybody else love Weezer? Just had to ask. (El Scorcho!!!)  
  
Mandy- Yeah, Bradley's a supreme jerk most of the time…if not all. He's got a civil side somewhere, though, I just have to find it.  
  
Arukara- Arse-kicking coming? If I can pull one off, then Hell yeah! Hehe.  
  
Reduara- Hehe, yup, way easier to type. Don't kill the poor little plotbunnies!! Sicko…hehe.  
  
Laura- Bradley might be a wee bit jealous of Aspen…It's more of a macho thing though, I think ;)  
  
Leopardess- Hehe, read and see…  
  
Emerald Redfern- Dude! I've never been on anybody's favorite list before! Check you reviews, by the way. Hehe, as for the NC-17 chapter…I am tempted, but who knows…  
  
Once again, major cred to Reduara!!!! I don't know what I'd do without you!  
  
Part Ten  
  
It rained steadily on the drive to Giovanni's, giving Ray the perfect atmosphere to just sit back and think.  
  
Bradley was an asshole, that was a given, but Ray could never seem to bring herself to just break free of him, to just leave one day and never look back. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to leave. As bad as Bradley was, Ray fostered some kind of sick attachment to him. Ray often marveled at how badly the whole soulmate connection thing had screwed her over.  
  
Staring at the back of Bradley's head, Ray began to wonder just what his feelings were on all of this. Did he secretly yearn to break free from her the same way that she did from him? Ray had no idea. The two of them always kept their feeling as guarded as they could, and it was a rare occasion for either one to know what the other was really thinking. Ray laughed at the irony of the situation as she thought, 'Oh, yes. Behold Bradley and Rayven, soulmates from hell.'  
  
Ray decided that there was no use in thinking about her and Bradley, as that was a road that led to nothing but headaches. Ray focused her thoughts instead on someone different. Aspen Weald.  
  
'He is handsome,' she thought, 'And he seems like such a nice guy.' Ray realized how cliché that sounded and scoffed at herself.  
  
Just then, Maeve turned around, looking wide awake and pissed off, and asked her, "MUST you think so loudly? Keep your pitiful little ramblings to yourself, for goodness sake. You're making my head hurt."  
  
"Must be painful to have actual thoughts up there, huh?" Ray said, and pointed to her head. Maeve just gave forth a melodramatic sigh and turned around.  
  
"No catfights in the car, please. The leather's new, and besides…I left my camera at home." Ray threw Bradley a dirty look and went back to staring out the window.  
  
When they finally arrived at Giovanni's, the rain was still pouring down. Ray hadn't bothered to pack an umbrella, as the sky was perfectly clear when she had left the house. Ray glared up at the sky through the back window. Even the weather had something against her that day. Ray groaned when she saw that Maeve was pulling a mini-umbrella out of her purse. It turned out to be full-sized, and, much to Ray's chagrin, it matched her outfit.  
  
Maeve walked around to the other side of the car and held the umbrella level over Bradley's car door. When he got out she handed him the umbrella and snuggled close to him.  
  
Ray was still sitting in the car debating over whether or not to chance it in the rain when Bradley knocked on her window. Ray opened the door a bit as he leaned into the car, Maeve still holding on to his chest.  
  
"You know, love, you're welcome to stand under here with us." He smiled at her as Maeve rubbed the side of her face against his arm. "There's plenty of room."  
  
Ray glanced at the tiny umbrella and then back at Bradley's savagely grinning face. She pushed past him and his shadow and walked briskly towards the entrance to Giovanni's, rain pouring drenching her as she went. She reached the entrance and went in, dripping wet.  
  
Giovanni's was your typical Italian joint, but with slightly better décor. While it went by the standard red green and white color scheme, everything was squeaky clean and sterile, giving the restaurant an air of classiness. Muzak poured through the speakers nonstop, adding to the effect.  
  
Ray ignored the curious gazes of the other patrons of the restaurant and scanned the crowd for Rusty and Aspen. She spotted them over in a corner and walked towards them. She had almost reached the table when Bradley and Maeve caught up with her. Maeve hurried ahead of her and sat down in one of the two chairs remaining. She sat her purse and umbrella down in that chair, leaving Bradley and Ray to share a small space of the booth next to Aspen that looked barely large enough for one person to sit in.  
  
Bradley, of course, took this space. He looked at Ray blankly, a small smile playing on his lips.  
  
Ray smiled at him. "Scoot over Brad," she said. She didn't wait for him to do this. She squeezed in the space between Bradley and the wall, soaking him in the process. She grinned as he groaned.  
  
Aspen, who had been quiet so far, spoke up. "So," he said, talking to Maeve, "I assume that you are my new partner?" Ray realized that he had a slight English accent.  
  
Maeve seemed to notice him for the first time. She looked him over, much like she had done with Ray before. This time, though, she seemed to be pleased with what she saw.  
  
"Hopefully," she said, and giggled. Ray rolled her eyes. Maeve saw her and remarked, "Excuse me, but what are you rolling you eyes at?" Ray could have sworn that the girl's nose actually pointed further up when she spoke to her.  
  
"Nothing…I'm just marveling at your subtlety." Ray smiled sweetly at her.  
  
Maeve just huffed and looked loathingly at Ray. "I looove your hair. The wet rat look really suits you. It's a wonderful improvement over your usual look."  
  
Rays hands tightened into fists, but she didn't lose her temper. "Thanks."  
  
Ray was much annoyed to see that Maeve didn't have a drop of rain on her. 'Witch.' she thought, except with a B instead of a W.  
  
Bradley whistled and leaned forward on the table. He turned to face Aspen. "So, Aspen. It seems as if I know you from somewhere…but I can't quite place you." Ray was surprised to see that Aspen paled. Even more curious, Rusty stiffened in his chair.  
  
Ray briefly wondered if Bradley was just toying with Aspen, and that he really did know who he was, but, scanning the edges of his mind, she realized the he was telling the truth. Rare occurrence, that.  
  
"I can't think of any place that I would know a man like you from." Aspen replied, his tone implying that he wouldn't want to know a man like Bradley.  
  
Bradley raised his eyebrows, but never lost his smile. "And what do you mean by that?"  
  
Aspen replied honestly, "I mean that you don't seem like a guy that I would want to get to know."  
  
"The feeling is mutual, believe me," Bradley replied flatly. "What makes you think that you know me well enough to make these nice little character judgments?"  
  
Aspen glared back at Bradley, gaze unwavering. "Look at the way that you treat her." He pointed at Ray, who was wary of being included in the dispute. "You treat your soulmate like she's…like she's an object! I don't know what kind of weird open relationship you two have, but I am sure that she deserves better." Ray was getting a little tired of being referred to in the third person, but she was enjoying Aspen's stance on the whole thing.  
  
Bradley stared Aspen down, unaffected. "To be quite honest, I don't care what you think. I know Ray for all that she is worth, and I would never treat her as less than she. I think that it's safe to say that we both feel the same towards each other." He glanced at Ray, humor glinting in his eyes. Ray couldn't help but smile back. While the rest of the table may have viewed Bradley's last couple of comments as insults, Ray knew that Bradley meant them in a completely different way. He continued, "We are soulmates after all," he mused.  
  
"Why are you so interested in Ray anyway? Are you attracted to her?"  
  
Aspen was turning red with anger. "That's none of your business!"  
  
"Ah…but it is. If I do consider her my "property", as you so nicely put it, then it is my business to check out all of the half-witted romeos that come her way."  
  
Bradley smiled.  
  
Aspen grabbed Bradley's shirt and growled, "Like I said, that's NONE of your business!"  
  
Ray realized that if she didn't do something soon, Bradley would lose his patience with the witch. Ray grabbed Aspens hand, which Bradley was coolly staring at, and climbed over Bradley to sit in between the two of them. Aspen retracted his hand, but still glared at Bradley over Ray's shoulder.  
  
"Calm down, damnit!" Ray exclaimed to Aspen. She kept eye contact with him until he looked down, seeming a little bit embarrassed. She turned back to Bradley. "Jesus, how many times do I have to tell you? Stop being an asshole. I can look out for myself just fine, thanks." Bradley just shrugged, still smiling chidingly at Aspen. Ray turned back to Aspen.  
  
"Thank you for your…concern, but, as much as I hate to say it, Brad's right. We both know where we stand with each other." Aspen looked up and met her eyes.  
  
"You do deserve better, you know."  
  
Ray scoffed. "Better than Brad? Ha! Hitler deserved better than Bradley." Ray heard him chuckle from behind her. Aspen smiled weakly and stared at the tabletop. An awkward silence fell over the table.  
  
Rusty broke the silence. "Wow. The love at this table is getting me all choked up. I've got to go to the bathroom." He got up and left just as the waitress arrived at the table.  
  
"And what can I do for you guys today?" she asked.  
  
'You could get me out of here, that'd be nice.' Ray thought, but she ordered pizza instead.  
  
She thought, 'Close enough." Food was always a good substitution for happiness as far as she was concerned. 


	11. Part Eleven

Part Eleven  
  
After Rusty came back and took his place at the table, the group continued to eat in silence. The meal continued on, uneventful. When she had finished eating, Ray stood up to leave. Rusty looked up at her, eyes wide.  
  
"Forgetting about us, Ray?" Ray looked at him quizzically.  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
Rusty shook his head. "Where do you think we're staying tonight? You didn't think that I'd spend any of my money, the little bit that I have, on a hotel room, when I have two of my best friends here with a nice big house, did you?"  
  
"Geez, Rusty," she said glancing at Bradley to see if he had known about this. He shook his head. "Well, I guess that you can stay." Out of the corner of her eye, Ray could see that Bradley was staring straight at her, green eyes studying her reaction.  
  
Ray and Bradley's house only had two bedrooms, and since they both claimed one as their own, it would be interesting to see how the five of them would work out the sleeping arrangements. On the bright side, Ray thought, maybe I won't have to sleep with Maeve…  
  
Bradley stood up, his shirt nearly dry on the side that was no longer touching Ray. He extended a hand to Maeve and she stood up with him. Ray moved around to the other side of the table so that she wouldn't have to risk touching either one of them. Aspen and Rusty followed suit, and they all exited the restaurant.  
  
* * *  
  
The drive back home was quiet, and it was getting dark. When they arrived back at the house, Ray hopped out of the car and made a beeline for the front door. The rest of the gang followed and took their places on the seats in the living room.  
  
"So, I suppose that we must sort out tonight's…arrangements now, hmm?" Bradley addressed the room. Everyone sort of glanced around, unsure of what to say. Well, everyone but Maeve.  
  
"I'm sleeping with Bradley," she declared. Ray turned wary eyes to the girl and was prepared to nod in assent when Bradley surprised her by saying, "I don't think that that would be a good idea." Maeve looked at him as if he had lost his mind.  
  
Bradley didn't seem to notice he shock as he continued on. "You should get to know your new partner there." He motioned in Aspen's general direction, again seeming oblivious to the murderous stare that Aspen was throwing at him. "Stay with him tonight. Enjoy yourself, get to know each other, have a snack—I don't care. You can stay in Rayven's room."  
  
Ray's eyes widened. "Excuse me…my room? Where will I be sleeping then, oh great master Bradley?" she asked in mock curiosity.  
  
"My room, of course," he said, smiling at Ray. Ray laughed.  
  
"That's all right Brad, but I think that I'll just sleep in the living room with Rusty." Mentally, Ray grimaced. She hated sleeping on the couch, but an aching back was a much better prospect than sleeping with Bradley.  
  
"Nonsense, love, you haven't slept well in at least 2 weeks. You'll never get any sleep in the living room." Ray started to protest when Rusty interrupted her.  
  
"He's right, Ray. You do look like you need some sleep. I'll be fine in here alone. Sleeping in the same room as Brad won't kill you." He said this innocently enough, but Ray knew him well enough to see the slight smile forming on his lips as he spoke. For reasons that Ray could never figure out, Rusty had always been a proponent of her and Bradley's relationship…whatever it was. He wanted the two of them together. 'Bastard,' Ray thought.  
  
She sighed. "Fine…fine." Bradley smiled happily, and stood to go to his room. Everyone else filed off to their respective rooms, yawning as they went. It still wasn't dark outside, but it had been a long day for everyone. Ray saw Aspen glance back at her once before he followed Maeve into Ray's room. Maeve huffed and grabbed his arm, pulling him into the room and slamming the door behind them.  
  
Ray looked out the living room window. It was nearly dark outside now, and Ray suddenly wanted nothing more than to just go out side and breathe in the fresh air. It was still raining outside, but she didn't mind that much. If she stayed on the porch, she wouldn't get wet.  
  
Ray put on a light jacket and proceeded to walk out onto the front porch. It was raining a bit lighter than before, much to her relief. She ignored the chairs and sat down on the ground in the corner of the porch, against the wall.  
  
It was beautiful out there, and Ray was taken aback at how the sky seemed that night. Dark swirling clouds closed in on the sky, quickly darkening it into the night. As ray watched the clouds moved closer and closer to her, she noticed that the wind was picking up. Trees wavered and shook while her hair flew in all directions. Ray reveled in the feeling that the cool wind beating against her face brought.  
  
Ray's reverie was broken by the sound of the front door opening.  
  
Ray looked up to see Bradley standing there, silver hair flying as he smiled slightly at her. Ray noticed that he was carrying a blanket under his arm.  
  
"It's getting cold out here," he said simply as he tossed her the blanket.  
  
"Thanks," she said, genuinely appreciating the gesture. It was cold out there.  
  
All that Bradley was wearing was a plain blue T-shirt and some jeans. Ray doubted that he was cold, but it seemed wrong for her to be wrapped up in a blanket, enjoying the night, while her soulmate stood there, looking naked.  
  
Bradley came and sat next to her, making the space in the corner even tighter. If it had been anyone else, Ray would have been grateful for the added body heat, but this was Bradley. She couldn't take being so close to him. Ray grimaced as his elbow grazed her nose.  
  
"Hey! Watch it!" Bradley chuckled.  
  
"Sorry love."  
  
Just then, it started to rain. No—rain wasn't a good enough word for what happened---it poured. For a moment, Ray and Bradley sat in perfect silence, watching the sky light up with lightning and thunder. The lightning sounded dangerously close.  
  
Bradley put his arms around Ray's shoulder, and, just that once, Ray didn't fight him. In fact, she leaned her head on his shoulder. It was incredibly comfortable, and Ray thought that it felt like…peace. Ray felt insanely safe in Bradley's arms right then, even though the wind was raging and the lightning seemed to be getting closer and closer.  
  
"This…is strange," she said slowly, turning to look at Bradley.  
  
"I know," he said, amused. "I can't remember a time when you've been quiet for this long." Ray elbowed him. He laughed and said, "Sorry…sorry, you're right. This is unusual." He now had his unnerving crystal bright green eyes trained on hers.  
  
Out of nowhere, Ray laughed. "Have you ever wondered…you know…why the two of us got stuck with each other?" She was too close to Bradley's face to actually look away, so she settled on staring at the area between his lips and chin.  
  
"Yes," he said quietly, surprising her. She had expected him to respond to her with a wisecrack, or some kind of sarcastic remark.  
  
"Why us…" Bradley mused. He tilted her chin up so that she was forced to look into his eyes.  
  
"Why not?" And this time they kissed each other. Neither one of them made the first move, they just moved towards each other at the exact same moment.  
  
It was a kiss to put all others to shame, as this time, Ray welcomed it. Her hand was locked in Bradley's hair and his were on her back, sliding on the slick film of rain that had soaked through her clothes. The wind had blown the rain onto the two of them, but neither of them had noticed. Sparks were flying wildly and it seemed as if Ray's whole body was in a tingle. Lightning crashed just as the front door opened again.  
  
Bradley had heard it open and Ray heard it through the soulmate connection. The two of them wrenched apart, both of them staring at the stranger who had interrupted their rare moment of passion.  
  
Ray looked up and met the eyes of Aspen Weald.  
  
* * *  
  
This is probably my favorite chapter yet!! R & R folks!!!!!! 


	12. Part Twelve

Part Twelve  
  
Ray gaped at Aspen as he stood in the doorway, looking down on the two of them with a look of surprised betrayal.  
  
He stammered, "I-I'm sorry…I didn't know that the two of you were…were…" he seemed at a loss for words, as he gave up on trying to explain himself and simply stared at the mismatched couple.  
  
Ray empathized with the Aspen. She didn't know how to explain herself either. As a matter of fact, she didn't even really know what had happened herself. She had always been attracted to Bradley, as anyone would be, and they normally got along rather well, save for the constant arguing, but for the two of them to give in to each other so painlessly…well, she just didn't understand.  
  
"What perfect timing, Weald. You seem to have a gift for ruining the moment," Bradley said derisively. As he spoke, Ray to realized that she still had her hand entwined in the vampire's hair. She self-consciously jerked her hand away, causing Aspen to raise an eyebrow at her.  
  
"I'm sorry to interrupt you guys. I was just coming out to look at the stars." He had seemingly regained his composure, though he pronounced every word roughly and deliberately, as if he was having trouble remaining calm. Ray could understand his initial shock but she didn't understand why he was behaving so angrily. She didn't think that it was out of jealously of her and Bradley…she barely knew Aspen, jealously on his part would be irrational. Instead, it seemed like the two of them just had a natural aversion to each other. And Ray wasn't quite sure, but she thought that Bradley treated the witch as if he knew him from somewhere. She disentangled herself from Bradley and stood.  
  
"Don't worry about it," she said. Her curiosity getting the best of her, she asked, "Do you two know each other from somewhere? It seems you do."  
  
Bradley sprawled out in the corner, looking blithe and relaxed. He said nothing, just looked at Aspen as if waiting for him to say something.  
  
Aspen looked blank.  
  
"I don't think that I know him." Bradley just smiled wanly, though Ray knew that he was slightly pissed off. He wasn't saying anything and his eyes burned slightly.  
  
"Of course," he said disdainfully. After throwing Aspen another glare, Bradley stood up in one graceful movement and quietly re-entered the house, brushing Ray's arm as he went. Ray shivered as she watched him go. Shaking away all thoughts of Bradley (or trying to, at least) she focused on Aspen.  
  
"So, no idea on why Brad doesn't like you?" she asked, somewhat sheepishly.  
  
He shrugged. "Nope." Ray sat down and patted the seat next to her.  
  
"Come on, sit down. There's no point in you standing there all night." He obliged and sat down next to her. He turned to her, his eyes questioning.  
  
"I know that this is none of my business, but I have to ask." Ray thought that she knew what he was going to say, but she didn't stop him. "Why do you stay with that guy? I know that he's your soulmate, but that doesn't mean that you're bound to him."  
  
Ray laughed. "Actually…yeah, it does." He looked faintly confused. Ray realized that she sounded a little bit callous, so she stopped laughing and said somberly, "I don't know…as much as I dislike him, we're stuck together. It's hard to be away from him, strangely enough, it's a lot harder than being around him." She paused, her eyes distant. "Who knows? If we were different people…if I was a Night Person, if he was human…maybe things would have been different. Maybe we would have a normal relationship," she looked at Aspen as she mused, "Maybe, ha, I keep saying that." Ray's eyes seemed to clear up as she snapped back to herself.  
  
She remembered Aspen, who was currently staring at her with something akin to astonished wonder. Ray apologized, "I'm sorry, I don't usually ramble on like that."  
  
"No, no, it's alright." He placed a hand on top of Ray's and she was comforted at how warm he was. "I just think that you deserve better."  
  
Ray blushed and quickly turned her head. She was acting like an idiot and she knew it. In an effort to save face, she warned Aspen, "Try not to stay on Bradley's bad side, hmm? It's not a good place to be."  
  
Aspen scoffed. "I'm not afraid of him. No offense, but I've met plenty of guys like him: guys who think that being an intimidating jackass will make anybody back down. I can handle myself well enough around that type."  
  
Ray was alarmed at how badly he had misjudged Bradley. Underestimating him was a very bad thing to do. "No offense taken, but you don't know Brad at all. Granted, he is an intimidating jackass most of the time, but he's a lot more than he seems. He's smart and he has close to no conscience. He will kill you if you irritate him enough, and he'll smile while doing it." She had seen Bradley do some messed up things in the time that she had known him, and she had never seen him show any kind of remorse for any of it.  
  
Aspen looked introspective. "I'll keep that in mind."  
  
Ray raised her eyebrows. Seeking to change the subject, she said, "Hey, what time is it?" It occurred to her that she had been out on the porch for a good while.  
  
Holding his wristwatch up to where he could see it, Aspen proclaimed, "10:30. It's not that late."  
  
Ray felt differently, and she began to yawn. Aspen smiled and leaned back into his seat.  
  
"You know, when the moonlight hits your hair like that, you look…" he seemed to be at a loss for words. He tried again. "You look really pretty."  
  
Ray hated to blush so much in one day, but this guy just seemed to have that effect on her. Ray didn't think that she was very pretty, just of average looks. She had the idea that this guy was just lying to try and hit on her, but she pushed the thought away.  
  
"I don't, but thanks anyway." She smiled back at him.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked. Ray was surprised that he had noticed something was wrong with her. She sighed and said,  
  
"It's just been a long day. Long and strange," she added, ironically.  
  
"What's happened? I mean, other than me and Rusty crashing here."  
  
Ray laughed. "Well, I've slept about 6 hours this week, so that's not helping things out any. This morning one of Brad's deranged exes shoved a gun in my face. Apparently Brad killed her soulmate." Ray saw Aspen take in a sudden breath, but his face quickly straightened out. Ray looked at him curiously, but went on. "Then Maeve shows up, delightful as she is. Then you guys came, and you and Brad have been bickering ever since you got here."  
  
"Hey! He started it." Aspen glowered, and Ray had to laugh. He looked like a little kid just then. Just as cute as one, too. Begrudgingly, he broke into a laugh, too. Ray liked the way that he looked when he laughed. He was an easy guy to talk to, plus he had honest eyes. That wasn't something that Ray saw a lot.  
  
"Just out of curiosity," he began, "what was the deranged girl's soulmate's name?"  
  
Ray wondered why he asked, but she replied, "I can't really remember…Jack, I think. Jack Rodley…something like that."  
  
"Roeddings," he offered quietly. Ray looked at him suspiciously.  
  
"You knew him?" she asked.  
  
"…Yes. It is getting late. I think that it's time for me to be going to bed. See you in the morning." And he was gone.  
  
Ray sat for a few seconds, confused. She was seriously beginning to wonder if there were any nice, uncomplicated guys left in the world. She wondered how Aspen, Bradley, and Jack Roeddings were involved.  
  
With a sudden resolve, Ray decided that there was only one way to figure out.  
  
Tomorrow she was going to pay Annabel a visit.  
  
* * * 


	13. Part Thirteen

Sorry that it took me so long to update, folks, but I've just been taking it easy. This is going to be the last update for a while, as I have to go to a summer camplike thing for 3 weeks. Hope you like this one!!  
  
Amy, Sarah, Laney and Tigereye- Hehe, thanks for the enthusiasm.  
  
Dark Beauty- Sorry for the confusion. Clarification is on the way, don't worry.  
  
Tjones- Ah…B&R action…some's coming…I think  
  
Leopardess- Don't do anything drastic…Believe it or not, I actually have a plot now. (cue miracle music)  
  
Thanks Askani  
  
Arukara- Yes, and more to come, too.  
  
Orange- Thanks for coming back and reviewing, I wouldn't keep writing this thing if it weren't for them. A Night World soap would be interesting, but I've read too many of them for it to turn out anything but clichéd. Maybe Dark Shadows…?  
  
Serena- *Blush* You think my story hold promise. I think that a fight between Brad and Aspen is pretty much inevitable, though it's kind of obvious how that one'll turn out.  
  
  
  
Part Thirteen  
  
Ray trudged back into the house and grabbed one last bar of chocolate. She headed to her room to grab her pajamas, ignoring Maeve when she got there. Aspen wasn't in the room yet, much to Ray's disappointment. She had wanted to ask him why he had run off like he had. 'Tomorrow then,' she thought, and then she left to face Bradley.  
  
With her eyes squeezed shut, hoping enormously that Bradley was asleep (or at lease decent), Ray eased open his door. Opening one eye, she saw Bradley laying on his bed, covers pulled up to about mid- stomach. Much to Ray's annoyance, he was wide awake and grinning lazily at her. Ray cursed mentally.  
  
Bradley's bed was certainly big enough for the two of them, but Ray was still reluctant to share it with him. She thought that she knew Bradley well enough to know that he'd never let her get through the night without being harassed. Ray steeled herself and proceeded to lay down a few guidelines for the night.  
  
"Alright Brad, a few things need to be said here." Bradley smiled and rolled onto his side, shifting the covers lower. Ray willed herself to keep her eyes on his face. "One: You will be staying on your side of the bed, which is as close to the wall (and as far from me, by the way) as possible. Two: You will neither touch, nor talk to me at any time during the night. This entails telepathy, and any and all abuses of the soulmate bond." She narrowed her eyes at him for emphasis. "One more thing, and this is important…NO hogging the covers." She paused and took a breath. "Got it?" she asked.  
  
Bradley smiled his familiar angelic smile, further infuriating Ray. She was about to politely suggest that he spend the night on the floor when he stopped her.  
  
"I am going with you tomorrow." Ray gaped at him.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Tomorrow, love, I'm going with you. To see Annabel, I believe?" Ray was angry at herself for letting her guard down enough for him to read her mind.  
  
"No, you're not."  
  
Bradley smiled condescendingly at her. "I'm sorry, but you have no choice." Ray started to object, but he waved a hand dismissively at her and continued. "You have no idea where she is, correct?" Ray realized that he was right. Bradley smiled at her.  
  
"And that, my love, is the way that it will remain, unless, of course, I come along." Laughter sparkled in his emerald eyes.  
  
"No." Ray replied flatly, though she realized that she wouldn't get anywhere without Bradley.  
  
Ignoring her as usual, Bradley said, "I don't see why you don't just leave this alone. Annabel won't be of much help to you. Besides, anything that you want to know, I can tell you."  
  
"But you won't tell me."  
  
"What kind of fun would that be?" Bradley replied simply.  
  
Sighing, Ray said, "Good night, Brad." She crawled into bed, trying her best to avoid touching Bradley, which was considerably hard, since he was sprawled across the bed. She poked his leg (she really hoped that it was his leg) and he made a little room for her.  
  
"What, we're not going to finish up what we started before?" Bradley stroked her neck suggestively.  
  
Ray scowled at him. He returned the gesture, making it significantly more threatening, with his fangs bared and eyes blazing. The effect was somewhat ruined, though, as his expression soon turned into a lethargic grin. Ray gave forth a long-suffering sigh.  
  
"Again…Goodnight, Bradley. And please let me sleep. Please."  
  
"Goodnight, love." Brad closed his eyes. Ray pushed his arm away from her chest and closed her eyes. She was asleep two minutes later.  
  
* * *  
  
Ray awoke to the not so subtle sound of Bradley screaming in her ear.  
  
Of course, most sounds hold the quality of screaming an hour or two before dawn.  
  
"Wake up, love. Rise and shine. No, no, take that pillow off of your head. Come on." Ray held on to her pillow with almost inhuman strength. Bradley, actually having inhuman strength, took it away from her easily.  
  
Ray could barely see Bradley, as the sun hadn't risen yet, but from what she could see in the moonlight, he was fully dressed and wide-awake. And, incidentally, holding a complete outfit for her.  
  
Ray made one last effort at hiding her head under her covers, but seeing that it was a losing battle (this realization was helped along by the fact that Bradley had taken away the covers and had cheerfully thrown them on the floor.), she gave up and looked listlessly at Bradley.  
  
"I thought you said that you would let me sleep."  
  
"I did," he said, honestly. "As a matter of fact, I let you sleep for a whole four hours." He said this helpfully, as if the amazing length of time would somehow make Ray less sleepy.  
  
Ray was annoyed at Bradley's good humor, and his incredibly annoying alertness. He was dressed to go, black pea coat and all. She sluggishly sat up, yearning to lie back down in bed every inch of the way.  
  
"Urgh, what time is it?" Ray asked, propping her head on her hands.  
  
Bradley glanced at his watch. "4:37." He smiled at her.  
  
Ray stared at him, wide-eyed. "Four…" her voice trailed away. "Why am I awake again?"  
  
"You wanted to pay a visit to Annabel, didn't you?" Bradley was having a hard time trying to keep a straight face while holding back what looked to have the potential for gales of laughter.  
  
Ray raised her eyebrows. "We could do this a bit later, you know?"  
  
"I have to feed." Bradley's eyes glinted in the moonlight, giving them a sort of hazy jade look. Ray realized that he probably hadn't had much time to feed yesterday. She groaned.  
  
"Christ Brad, do you have to drag me along with you?" Ray had seen Brad feed on many occasions, none of which were on purpose. She had just happened to walk in at the wrong time, time after time. It tended to happen like that when you lived with a womanizing vampire with an extreme bachelor mentality. Despite this, Ray still didn't want to watch Bradley do this.  
  
"Yes, you do. We'll drop by Annabel's after I'm done." He paused, and then added, derisively, "It won't kill you, love."  
  
"Ah, but what about the other girl?" Ray offered sagely. Bradley just chuckled and tossed Ray her clothes.  
  
"I'll be waiting outside."  
  
Too tired to gripe, Ray went to her bathroom, did her business, and changed her clothes. She headed towards the front door, saw that Bradley was already in his car, and ambled into the passenger's side seat.  
  
Ray slouched in her seat and closed her eyes. One good thing about a Porsche, she had always thought, was that it was great to sleep in. That was probably Bradley's main reason for buying it, but that didn't matter to Ray just then. What mattered then was sleep. Bradley pulled off and Ray drifted somewhere close to sleep.  
  
Ray was hit by a rather annoying wave of déjà vu as extremely loud music streamed through the sound system. Ray grimaced and spared a look at Bradley, who was smiling smugly out the window.  
  
"Just a little something to wake you up. You seem a bit sluggish."  
  
"Dude…I don't think that that's going to work. I've slept through plenty worse." She slouched down further in her seat.  
  
"Oh well. If all else fails, I can think if a few other things to keep you awake." Ray had to look at him, if not just to see if his expression matched with his wonderful use of innuendo. He did not disappoint.  
  
Ignoring him, she said, "What happened to your concern from last night, huh? Do you enjoy watching me suffer or something…" Ray trailed off, her eyes slowly closing again. Bradley just turned the music up louder.  
  
"Come now, love, I thought that you had that figured out years ago." He patted her on the head.  
  
Ray was so tired that even the music wasn't able to keep her awake. She knew that there were only two ways to get Bradley to leave her alone: 1) For her to magically develop some primo vampire slaying abilities, and beat him into silence, which she really wasn't counting on, or 2)…  
  
"God help me, but anything for sleep." And at that, she leaned over onto her soulmate and promptly fell asleep, completely missing the rare and almost humorous expression of surprise on Bradley's face. After a second of recovery, he smiled and repositioned Ray so that she was resting in the crook of his arm with her head leaning slightly on his chest. Bradley put the car on cruise for a moment, and with his one free hand, he reached forward and turned off the radio.  
  
* * * 


	14. Part Fourteen

Ha, wow. How long has it been? Four months or so, I think. Excuse me if I'm a little bit rusty.but this story needs finishing. So, back solely due to you guys asking for it, here's part fourteen.  
  
Part Fourteen  
  
Ray awoke as Bradley parked his car. They were in some dark area nearby Gesling park, which she and Bradley frequently visited. Ray shivered at the sudden gust of cold air as Bradley opened her car door.  
  
"Cold, love?" Bradley asked, face expressionless.  
  
Ignoring him, Ray said, "Christ Brad, I'm waiting in the car. It's cold outside and I don't want to watch you."  
  
Bradley looked at her briefly and then stepped out into the night. For a second, Ray thought it strange that he didn't use the opportunity to drag her out of the car and wake her up yet again. Then she saw him smile as he closed the door.  
  
"Enjoy yourself," he said waving a few fingers in the air as he walked away. Ray cursed silently.  
  
Bradley had neglected to leave the air conditioning on, and, much to Ray's chagrin, had taken his keys with him. She curled into a little ball, shivering. It was very dark out, she noticed. All she could see out of the windows were stars in the black sky. Well, that and the cement walls behind the car.  
  
With no stereo, the car maintained a kind of ghostly quiet. Ray tried humming to herself. Then she tried humming more loudly. Seeing that this only served to echo in the car, and further creep herself out, Ray stopped. Uncomfortable in the silence of the car, and angry at herself for being so easily shaken, Ray jumped out of the car and stood still for a second.  
  
The dark corner actually happened to be the end of an alleyway. It seemed fairly untouched, not running over with old movie images of hobos and black cats dashing through the shadows, waiting to pounce on unfamiliar girls at night. It was a rather plain alleyway, if not a bit grimy. Smiling to herself, Ray thought that this made for a pretty stereotypical vampire's haunt. 'Knowing Brad, he probably chose this spot on purpose. Ham," Ray thought. She headed off in the direction that Bradley had gone into.  
  
Ray quickly realized that wherever Bradley had gone, she wouldn't be able to find him. He was an excellent hunter. He would never allow himself to be that easily found.  
  
(Yeah, It's been too many months since I last wrote, so I thought that I'd just throw this out to get myself started again. Winter break is in a few weeks, so I should get a lot written then. I.hope.at least. Yeah.) 


	15. Part Fifteen

To all you guys who reviewed: I LOVE YOU! This'll be the last update for a while, as school starts Monday. Ah well.at least I got something done.  
  
Part Fifteen  
  
Shivering a little, Ray tried to maintain a brisk pace. The park was dark and desolate, and Ray had never been very at ease with walking through empty parks hours before sunrise. She was beginning to become distraught, as she realized that she had been walking for about five minutes with no sign of Bradley.  
  
Ray abruptly halted. She thought that she had heard a pained scream followed by a dull thud. The scream sounded familiar to her, and, after a second or two, she placed it as Aspen's.  
  
This moment called for a little bit of reflection, she decided.  
  
A normal person (or as normal as one could get, walking around a park at four in the morning) would handle this situation in one of two ways. They would either run away in fear, logic dictating that if there was something ahead making a fellow human being scream, then it would most likely be beneficial for that person to run the other way. Either that, or they would go and see what it was that was paining their somewhat friend with intentions of helping. Ray knew this, and found it almost funny that neither of these thoughts had immediately gone through her mind.  
  
Ray first regarded the situation with suspicion. Why would Aspen be there? She could think of no legitimate reasons for his presence there. Also, who could it be that Aspen was doing so badly at defending himself against? And doing badly he was, she realized as she heard him hit the tree again, a dull thud sounding once more. Ray was a bit distressed at her self- interest, but she really didn't want to go anywhere near someone who could throw a witch, who was perfectly capable, as far as she knew, of blowing most assailants to bits with some well aimed witchfire. There really wasn't much that she could do.  
  
But still.she couldn't just let him get killed.  
  
Ray's reverie was interrupted by Aspen's voice, husky from battling with his unknown assailant, Ray guessed. "Damn it, don't you ever get tired?" he asked, as Ray crept around the bushes that were blocking her view. At the sound of the cold drawl of Aspen's attacker, Ray lost all apprehension and let out a little sigh.  
  
"No." Bradley said simply, grabbing Aspen's collar and pulling him upright. He regarded the witch with unnerving patience.  
  
"What are you looking at?" Aspen spat, holding Bradley's glare and gaining more of Ray's admiration.  
  
"I'm deciding whether or not I should kill you now." Bradley smiled.  
  
Ray stepped walked out to the two men and stood almost between them. Never looking away from Aspen, Bradley greeted her. "Needed some fresh air, did you, love?"  
  
Ignoring his comment, Ray stepped in between the two of them, attempting to push the two apart. Bradley's hold on the witch was unwavering. She regarded Bradley.  
  
"Brad." she began patiently, starting in on an old argument, "This isn't a hard choice. Look, I'll even help you." Bradley minutely turned his head and smiled grimly at her. "You don't kill our co-workers."  
  
Bradley arched an eyebrow. "Not yet." he mumbled. He stared at Aspen for a few more seconds, and then let go of his collar, placing his hands on Ray's shoulders as Aspen collapsed to the ground. Ray ducked away from him, Bradley looking skyward, and bent to see just how bad off Aspen was. She turned Aspen over and checked to see if he was still conscious. He didn't seem to be awake, but, as ray affirmed by checking his heartbeat, he was still alive. Bradley spoke to her back.  
  
"You seem to have warmed up to him rather fast, love." His tone was light, but, turning around, Ray realized that his mood was anything but light. His well-concealed anger was obvious to his soulmate. Ray decided to tread lightly.  
  
"I was just concerned that you may have killed an innocent man." Bradley scoffed. "Will you please just tell me why you dislike him so much?" Bradley just stared at her blankly, and she knew that she would get no answer from him. Oh well, she thought, she'd find out. Ray did her best to remain calm. She would not lose her temper tonight. "I showed him no more affection than normal." Ray immediately regretted her words, as Bradley's eyes flared up at the word "affection." He crouched down so that they were eye to eye.  
  
Bradley's face was completely calm, and only his eyes betrayed his anger. His unblinking emerald eyes blazed with anger, burning. He was completely still. Ray resisted the urge to back away, very well knowing that he was purposely trying to scare her. He spoke, and Ray saw that his fangs were half extended.  
  
"You kissed," he said, and Ray suddenly found herself no longer staring at him with fear, but with a kind of amused astonishment.  
  
"Are you.holy Christ, you are. You're jealous!" Bradley growled irately. Ray took this as a sign of assent. She stared at him in wonder. "Bradley Redfern, jealous of another male." she mused.  
  
Bradley sat back, shifting his weight to his palms. He gave her an appraising look. "I'm not jealous." His voice was laced with finality. Ray laughed.  
  
"I'm almost touched. If you weren't a sociopathic bastard, I'd probably be smiling coyly and falling into your arms right now."  
  
"I find it hard to imagine you falling into anyone's arms, love, or smiling coyly, for that matter." Bradley remained cold.  
  
"It was hypothetical."  
  
His mood changing as swiftly as it came, Bradley abruptly stood up, smiling. "We're wasting time here. I believe that we were going to visit Annabel?" He smiled his normal amazing smile at her and offered her his hand. She ignored it and pulled herself up.  
  
"What about Aspen? I'm not going to leave him lying here." Witch or not, it wouldn't be very safe for him to lie unconscious all night in the park.  
  
Bradley, sensing her worry, looked at Aspen thoughtfully. "He won't be waking up any time soon." He smiled, no admiring his handiwork.  
  
Ray didn't want Aspen to sit there all night, so, pushing the violently protesting voice in her head aside, she looked Bradley in the eye, making sure that every ounce of worry that she possessed showed in her eyes. She silently begged him to do something. Bradley ran his fingers through her hair.  
  
Head slightly tilted, he said, "You're always so beautiful when you attempt manipulation." Ray was about to hang her head in defeat when he picked up Aspen and slung him over his shoulder, carrying his weight easily. He began to walk away. Ray followed.  
  
They walked for a few minutes in silence. When they finally reached the car, Ray winced as Bradley roughly tossed Aspen into the back seat. He must be really out of it not to feel that, she thought. She mentally chastised Bradley.  
  
"You owe me for that, love." Bradley said this as he got into the driver's seat. Ray stepped into the car and stared at him incredulously. He smiled a her and then drove off. They were on their way to Annabel's.  
  
* * *  
  
Well.I think every part is crap, so I'll refrain from mentioning that. Or.hmm. 


	16. Part Sixteen

Part Sixteen  
  
Ray stared out the window for what seemed the millionth time that day. It was a longer trip than what she had expected, taking, in the end, nearly an hour. The trip was punctuated by Aspen's occasional moans followed by Bradley's joyous tossing of something heavy towards his immobile body. Ray tried, as stealthily as possible, to move as many potentially painful items out of Bradley's reach. She had the sneaking suspicion that her efforts were greatly entertaining him.  
  
Despite her intent questioning Bradley had still remained quiet about his motives with Aspen. Ray was steadily becoming more and more infuriated.  
  
"So, Brad." she began trying a different course of action, "Do you actually have a past with Aspen here, or were you just fueled by your incredible petty jealousy?"  
  
Bradley smiled condescendingly, not taking the bait. "Neither, love," was his cryptic answer. Ray, infinitely frustrated, grabbed his arm.  
  
"Pull over." Bradley laughed. "Pull over!" Still laughing he conceded.  
  
As soon as they were on the side of the road, Ray jumped out of the car and ran around to the other side with intentions of dragging Bradley out of his seat. Bradley, further cementing in Ray's mind that he was the most difficult bastard ever, was not in his seat.  
  
"You wanted to discuss something, I gather," came his (Ray thought) antagonistic voice from behind her. Ray turned around and marched towards him, stopping as close to him as she could get without actually touching him. Ray poked him in his nose, ignoring the sparks that flew. Bradley gave her a look of mock astonishment.  
  
"Stop being a bastard," she said, and steeled herself. "Tell me what's going on now." Bradley simply stared at her, his limy-jewel eyes unfazed. Ray, angry at him for being so difficult (and even angrier at herself for not being able to get him to admit what was going on), locked eyes with Bradley for a little bit longer. So quick that Ray barely saw it, Bradley smiled his brightest smile (and Ray could have sworn later that there was a bit of warmth in that smile), and bridged the distance between the two of them. When their lips touched, everything disappeared in a haze of gray.  
  
She'd been here before.  
  
When they had first met, all those years ago, Ray had been here. Then she had been amazed by the aquiline jumble of Bradley's mind, had been amazed that she could be there at all. She had been horrified and amazed at the realization that she had a soulmate, and solely horrified that her soulmate was the infamous Bradley Redfern. But this was not then.  
  
The times when their minds had touched had been few and far between, due mostly to their respective amounts of self-control. But this had happened enough due to the stubborn nature of the soulmate bond that neither of them were at a loss when it happened. Ray fought against it.  
  
~What the hell?!~  
  
She loved Bradley. She didn't have a choice. And while she appeared to be more or less comfortable with him to others, a little part of her still feared him and what he could do. It was these little forays into his mind that made her fear (and, much to her disdain, love) him even more.  
  
All around her was nothing, just endless gray. His sociopathic emptiness surrounded her, and Ray was overcome with anger. She screamed at him again.  
  
~Stop playing games, Brad! Show yourself!~  
  
It echoed. In all appearances Ray was completely alone, but she knew better. She almost laughed as the thought of being the only one between the two of them with a soul. It was almost appealing, given some circumstances. At that moment, though it just seemed lonely.  
  
'More bearable than having that bastard around though,' she thought, and she jumped as she heard laughter behind her. She turned angrily to see Bradley behind her, glowing slightly.  
  
~Stop doing that!~ she exclaimed mentally. Bradley simply smiled.  
  
~You shouldn't yell at me, love. It seems that I have the upper hand here.~ Bradley's mental voice sounded smug and arrogant, much like his real voice.  
  
Ray decided to take the high road and regard him calmly. She sat down on the gray ground and gave up being angry at him. She just met his eyes and projected to him,  
  
~I'm assuming that you brought me here because you decided to stop being a bastard and show me something, right?~ Bradley nodded.  
  
~I'll look past your lovely little terms of endearment for now, love. Look.~ He pointed behind her.  
  
She stood up and turned around to see a moving space on the gray wall. Bradley moved behind her and nudged her forward. ~Go on.~  
  
Ray edged closer. She squinted at the space on the wall and was somewhat surprised to see that it was some sort of moving picture.  
  
~It's too blurry, I can't make it out,~ she told Bradley.  
  
~Closer,~ he told her. She moved closer still. She could make the picture out now. There was Aspen on the left, scowling. And in the middle, there was a girl, around Ray's age. They seemed to be talking, though the picture was silent.  
  
~Still not able to see it, love? Perhaps you need a little help.~ And at that, Bradley pushed her into the image.  
  
Ray's ~Wha-~ of confusion was cut off as she sailed through the image and everything went black.  
  
Sorry to stop it right there, but I think that i'm in no shape to write anything decent right now. Review and give me motivation!!!!!! (me=needy) 


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